A liquid crystal cell used in a liquid crystal display apparatus capable of displaying a color image mostly performs a color display by additive color mixture, using a color filter of three primary colors: red, green, and blue. However, the refractive index of light in liquid crystal varies depending upon the color, so that there arises a problem called a color shift in that a screen of a liquid crystal display apparatus looks in different colors depending upon the viewing angle when the liquid crystal display apparatus is viewed from an oblique direction. In order to prevent such a color shift, a liquid crystal cell having a multi-gap structure has been proposed. This liquid crystal cell uses a technology in which the thickness of a liquid crystal layer, i.e., the cell gap is varied depending upon the color. However, even when a liquid crystal cell having a multi-gap structure is used, a low contrast, which is a defect of the liquid crystal display apparatus, cannot be improved. As a technology of improving the contrast, there has been proposed a technology in which a light-shielding film is placed in an inclination area positioned at a boundary between a region in which the cell gap is larger and a region in which the cell gap is smaller (for example, Patent Document 1). This is a technology of preventing the decrease in contrast caused by light transmitting through or reflecting from the inclination area.
On the other hand, in a liquid crystal display apparatus used in a television receiver requiring an animation display or the like, a VA system and an IPS mode have become a mainstream recently, instead of a TN system and a STN system. Of those, according to the IPS mode, liquid crystal molecules contained in a liquid crystal layer are homogeneously aligned, and the alignment direction is changed in a plane thereof. Thus, the liquid crystal molecules do not rise obliquely in a liquid crystal cell, so that a change in optical properties depending upon the viewing angle of a screen is small, and a wider viewing angle compared with that according to the VA system is obtained. On the other hand, there is a problem that a contrast is lower than that according to the VA system. The IPS mode includes a system called an e-mode and a system called an o-mode. Of those, in the e-mode, a polarizer placed on a light source side, i.e., on a liquid crystal layer side of a liquid crystal cell directs an absorption axis thereof in a direction substantially perpendicular to a major axis direction of the liquid crystal molecules aligned homogeneously under no voltage application. Therefore, linearly polarized light generated when light in an omniazimuth emitted from a light source passes through the polarizer becomes elliptically polarized light while passing through the liquid crystal molecules whose major axis direction is perpendicular to the linearly polarized light. Therefore, when the elliptically polarized light passes through the polarizer whose absorption axis is directed in a direction substantially parallel to the major axis direction of the liquid crystal molecules, a contrast in an oblique direction decreases.    Patent Document 1: JP 2004-354745 A